


PROJECT: Squall

by Ellery_Almasy



Category: FF7, FF8, FFVII, FFVIII, Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy 8, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII
Genre: M/M, Multi, Other, possible smut in the future, so much soldier sass
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2018-08-27 11:47:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8400496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellery_Almasy/pseuds/Ellery_Almasy
Summary: Soldier and SeeD are not two organizations that work well together; so when Squall Leonhart is transferred in after being attacked by a renegade Dr. Hojo, the transition isn't what one would call smooth. Put into the capable(?) hands of Zack Fair, Squall is back in the shoes of a trainee and part time science experiment as they try to figure out just how much Mako has effected his system. In the back ground one of Zacks friends, Cloud seems to be struggling with something; Squalls not certain if he should offer help or mind his own business.





	1. Commander to Cadet

**Author's Note:**

> Please excuse any grammatical errors. I didn't take time fully read through for errors. Reviews are loved!

**Chapter 1**   

             SOLDIER and SEED were not two organizations that got along well. While SOLDIER was in control of most of central Gaia’s military, the gardens were more or less an institute of mercenaries, warriors for hire; Granted they usually only involved themselves with things like up risings, or espionage, or even being hired to work for SOLDIER or the Turks on occasion.

                Sephiroth was not amused to find himself in charge of a SEED Commander. A teenager from the looks of him, chocolate colored hair framed a slightly rounded face, steely blue eyes watching him without a single hint of emotion. He wasn’t dressed like a SEED though, instead of the signature uniform, he wore leather pants held with a series of belts, a white shirt and a fur trimmed ridding jacket. There was an empty holster on his hip, signifying his weapon was still in processing and had yet to be returned to him.

                “General Sephiroth Cresent.” He said calmly.

                Apparently, after the sorceress war, a specific scientist had taken an interest with Balamba Gardens Hero. One Squall Leonhart, who had made a huge jump in rank after his victory against Ultimecia. The youth had been attacked in his own room, and spirited away. Three months had passed before he was found by a group of soldiers in charge of hunting down Hojo. Zack Fair had carried the unconscious brunette back to base. It was unavoidable that he be brought to SOLDIER. Hojo had given him the same treatments that so many first class soldiers had under gone.

                “Commander Leonhart.” He replied, gesturing to a chair.

                “Call me Squall.” He insisted, crossing his arms and shifting his weight. “I don’t believe I have to verbalize how ridiculous I find this…”

                “No, I’ve heard that you put up quiet the argument with your boss as well as Rufus Shinra.” Sephiroth assured him, shaking his head. “But as it stands, you are a target for a scientist who has given us a lot of trouble, not to mention you’ll need training and supervision until we know the extent of what the Mako has done to you.”

                “I can be observed by the doctors in the Garden, I can’t just abandon my-“

                “You’ve been gone three months already, they found someone to cover for  you already, and as of tomorrow you will be a first class trainee, under myself and the other generals. You’ll also be moved into the first class soldiers dorms. Zack Fair, the one who headed the team that found you, will be showing you around.”

                “And what exactly happens if I refuse?” Squall inquired.

                “We’ll hold you in the hospital as a victim of Geostigma and you’ll be forced to endure painful testing procedures to get the same results as simply training.” Sephiroth responded coldly.

                Silence filled the room as Squall debated his options again, his hand coming up to trace the scar between his eyes, a scowl lining his pale face. His eyes betrayed the war inside him, and it was apparent that he didn’t exactly trust SOLDIER.

                “Let me walk you to your new room, we can discuss things over some tea.” Sephiroth suggested.

                “I am not a child that needs to be coddled.” Squall responded blandly. “My whole life is at that Garden. I have been running it since the battle of Ultimecia, and now… because of one crazy man that caught me off guard, I’m subject to study and have to transfer entirely to a new organization. Forgive me if I need a moment to process.”

                “That’s why I offered to walk you to your room and get you a drink. Or would you prefer I take you straight to training, to vent your frustrations.”

                “Training.”

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

                Watching Leonhart on the battle field was surprising. He cleared the first few levels of the training simulations in minutes, moving up to what was considered to be first class levels; not exactly on level with Sephiroth or even Zack, but impressive none the less. His form improved as the rage sucked out of his body with each satisfactory cut through the holograms. He couldn’t finish the current level he was on, caught at a standstill with the programmed warrior that had started to pick up on his moves. Sephiroth killed the power before he could push himself too far.

                Squall paused, lowering his blade and straightening his posture, wincing as he felt his strained muscles argue. It’d only been three months since he last trained, but his body had changed a lot due to the Mako infusions. He clasped the gunblade to his hip.

                “Did that help you?” He asked, stepping into the room.

                “A bit.” He conceded, breathing a little heavy. “The programs you have here are pretty incredible. Learning and working with a person’s weaknesses. I’d love to get this program for our training. The simiulations we have-“ The brunette actually had to pause to breath, pushing his sweaty bangs out of his eyes. “Aren’t nearly as complex. We make up for it with actual combat, but this would still be a great advantage for our higher level SeeDs.”

                “Yes, well while you are a _soldier_ you will have access to it frequently when you begin training with Zack.” Sephiroth noted the scowl Squall gave him. “Until we know the extent of your changes, you will have to put Garden out of your mind.”

                “Not that easy.” Squall sighed, rolling his shoulders as Sephiroth lead him out of the room, gesturing for him to grab a water bottle from the vending machine.

                “You’ll have to trust the SeeD members to be able to handle it without you. So far they seem to be functioning the same as ever.” He said flipping out his phone. Angeal was calling him.

                “What is it Angeal?”

                “The kid is missing. Slipped the nurses and even got into the guards post to get his clothes.” Angeal explained in a rush, he was clearly preparing to hunt Squall down. Sephiroth turned his slit green eyes over at the brunette, there was a hint of a smirk on the youths lips.

                “No need for that, he’s in my custody.” Sephiroth assured him. “He came to me in my office and has been with me for few hours.”

                “Oh… The nurses said he requested to be left to sleep. Zack and I came in to transfer him, and discovered him missing.” Angeal let out a long irritated sigh. “At least he’s smart enough not to attempt a full escape.”

                Squall scoffed behind his water bottle.

                “I’ll be bringing him to his room in just a moment. Why don’t you and Fair meet us there.” He suggested. “We’ve just run through a couple training simulations, I now have conclusive information on where to start him off and the level of combat he’s capable of prior to his infusion of Mako.”

                “Why the hell did you start without me?” Zack asked with a slight whine to his tone. “I wanted to see what the Gardens best SeeD was made of!”

                “You’ll see soon. We’re on our way.” Sephiroth assured him. He hung up without another word, looking up at Squall with a small sigh of amusement.

                “Finally figured out my little trick?” Squall mused. “Rather lax security on your medical floor, only took me five minutes of waiting in the dark to get my chance to slip out. But three hours to figure out… ouch.”

                “You seem rather smug over a simple escape from the medical unit.”

                “My  security  at Garden would of caught that.” He claimed, looking at Sephiroth. “I have every nook and cranny covered… plus Dr. Kadowaki is impossible to escape.”

                “Well most of the people we keep in our medical unit, want to be there. The rest of our security measures are surrounding it. I was in a meeting when I was alerted someone was in my office. Simply checking the feed allowed me to know who was waiting. I admit though, I thought they’d released you. Did they at least finish the tests.”

                “Pretty sure they were waiting for results, but that part they didn’t need me for that, did they?” Squall replied calmly.

                Sephiroth shook his head and motioned for Squall to follow him.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

                “RISE AND SHINE!”

                Squall looked up from his book, arching an eyebrow at the spikey haired man who just burst into his room. The man appeared surprised that Squall was already awake, scratching the back of his face with a sheepish laugh.

                “Oh… uh, good! You’re awake already.” Zack chuckled.

                “Have been for an hour.”

                “Good! I’m going to show you around today! Teach you about how we run here!” Zack explained walking over and dropping a bag on the table. “Hurry up and get changed, then we’ll head out.”

                “What are these?” Squall asked, unzipping the bag with a frown.

                “Soldier issued uniform,” Zack said excitedly. “They’re really comfortable! You don’t have to wear the shoulder pads for training, though most like to wear the full uniform to get use to it.”

                Squall let out a long sigh and stood up, walking to the small kitchen unit to grab the half full coffee pot. He needed more caffeine to deal with this. He didn’t want to join soldier, but after a long argument with Cid over the phone, he found that he had no choice. The Mako that had been infused with his body was capable of driving him insane or even killing him if it wasn’t taken care of properly.  The main concern being that Hojo might try getting his hands on Squall again to continue his experiments.  Squall was stuck between a rock and an army.

                “So… I’m to start training as a first class right away? Not going to make me slum it with the cadets for a while?” He asked, turning around and nearly jumping when he found Zack right behind him. He glared and pushed him back a bit. “Can I help you?”

                “Just making sure you’re alright!” Zack leaned in close, making Squall lean back uneasily. “I know this must all be a total head rush for you.”

                “I’m fine. I’m not exactly happy, but… I’m fine.” He said putting a hand on his shoulder to push him back. Zack didn’t budge, inspecting the brunettes face with a serious expression and a low hum.

                “….”

                “What are you staring at?” Squall huffed.

                “Uh, heh… you look so young! Its weird to think you’re a commander at Garden!” Zack laughed, reaching up to flick Squalls bangs out of his face. “And I can see how stressed you are. Things will work out in the end, don’t worry!”

                “I’m not stressed…” Squall turned, shouldering Zack to the side as he passed him, sipping his coffee stubbornly. “I just have a serious expression.”

                “Aaaand now you sound like Sephiroth.” Zack grinned at him.

                “Shut up, please.” Squall groaned, rubbing his temples. “I’ll change, finish my coffee and then you can give me the grand tour.”

                “Alright, but we gotta leave by seven! That’s when the wake up call sounds.” Zack said, following him to the table again. Squall grabbed the clothes and left his coffee on the table while he headed into the bathroom to put on the uniform. Squall grimaced as he changed, it just felt wrong adorning the baggy uniform. He could handle the SeeD uniform on formal occasion, but he had always preferred his own clothes.

                The shirt was tight around him, showing off his arms and slim waist. He didn’t like it.  He brushed his hair with his fingers and scowled at his appearance.

                “Seifer would laugh his ass off.” He grumbled, stooping to snag his boots and stuff his feet into them.

                “Looking good!” Zack applauded when he exited the bathroom. “Although, you need to tuck your pants into your shoes.”

                The black haired male proceeded to help him put on the belt and straps.

                “I feel like a traitor in this.” Squall grumbled, letting Zack tug at him, making sure everything was in place.

                “Eh? Why?” Zack asked, dodging a swat as Squall tried to get him to stop pulling at him.

                “I’m a SeeD… have been for years, and now I’m a Military D-“ Squall cut himself off, face heating a bit. Zack grinned.

                “Military Dog? Yeah, we know what you guys call us… We call you weeds.” He admitted, nudging his chin gently with his fist. “Now come on little weed! Gotta show you the Mess, and we’ll run you through what your schedule will look like from now on!”

                “Call me little weed again and I will cripple you.”

                “Alright, alright… now. I don’t know how you operate at SeeD, but once we’re amongst the men, you’ll call me Lieutenant General Fair… okay actually you can just call me Zack, but that’s my proper title. Sephiroth, Angeal and Genisis… uh who you haven’t met yet, they’re all generals. You’re going to be just a 1st, so when addressed they’ll say 1st Class Leonhart.”

                “Such a mouthful…” Squall shook his head. “At Seed-“

                “This isn’t SeeD though, and I think things will get easier as soon as you stop comparing them.” Zack cut him off, handing him his coffee. “Now come on.”

                Squall sighed and gulped down his coffee, allowing Zack to pull him out of the room. Zack clapped his hands and cleared his throat before he launched into explanation.

                “Okay! So, First class has taken a different turn within the last two years. We’re no longer infusing our Soldiers with Mako after Sephiroth came back from sabbatical. Not going to lie, I’m hazy on the facts, but I kind of understand after one of my cadets was nearly killed during the infusions… You’re hopefully going to be the last super soldier.” Zack said quickly, walking ahead of him with a little bounce in his step. “Hojo is still on the loose, so theres a big chance that he’s gonna keep trying, but we’ll catch him soon enough!”

                “So far I don’t feel any different, are we certain that I’ve actually been changed by the Mako?” Squall asked, keeping up with the taller man the best he could. “I mean… they say its in my system, but I don’t feel any different.”

                “It might take a bit to present… but your eyes show change, and I didn’t see you fight before… so I can’t say if your senses have improved just yet.” Zack lead him down a couple flights of stairs and a long hallway to an elevator.

                “Garden has documented footage of my training.” Squall replied, crossing his arms as the elevator lowered. “Request it from Cid.”

                “Good idea…” Zack hummed. 

                There was a DING, and the doors opened, allowing the two out onto the ground floor. Zack once again lead the way down the  hallways into a pair of double doors just as a loud trumpet noise filled the speakers over head, announcing the wake up call. Zack grabbed a tray and passed it to Squall, leading him through the line up.

                “Early, aren’t you Zack?” One of the cooks giggled, shaking her head at him. “And who is this?”

                “This is our new 1st class! Leonhart, this is Madiline!” Zack introduced. “Its my job to show him around, so I wanna get him some breakfast before the cadets file in!”

                “Why not just take him to the 1sts lounge?” She asked.

                “Because he needs to know where everything is! And you guys have better food.” Zack winked, tapping his plate.

                Squall rolled his eyes and offered his tray over for them to fill up. The meal was pretty standard, eggs, hash browns, sausage and bacon, and then a single pancake with a small cube of butter and a side of syrup. Zack managed to sweet talk them into a few extra pancakes.

                “Enjoy your first day.” Madiline said smiling at Squall.

                “Thanks,” He said blandly, turning away to find a seat with Zack.

                “Wow… not great with the ladies, are you?” Zack winced, sitting down. “She was trying to be sweet with you.”

                “Color me severely disinterested.”

                “Okay, come on, she’s cute. Unless you’re not into women, which I don’t judge but-“

                “Please, just… let me eat in peace.” Squall groaned. “I’m disinterested in dating period. Infact, I’m disinterested in people on most days. I prefer to spend my time training and treating my job with serious demeanor. Which you seem to lack.”

                “Just trying to liven up your day… make this seem like not so dark a place.” Zack said, looking a little crest fallen. “Everyone here is always so serious, I just want to make you feel comfortable. After all… three months is kind of a long time to be out of it, and then you were transferred before you were conscious…”

                Squall didn’t respond, angrily stabbing into his meal and eating. He was letting his temper get the better of him, but it was hard to deal with someone so excitable. He took  a deep breath and looked up as cadets started filing in. He noted that their uniforms were green rather than blue, and the armor was a bit different.

                “So, tell me about the scheduling…”

                Zack seemed to cheer a bit when Squall spoke again, launching into explanation about the morning rounds before training. The cadets each had different assignments, which helped keep the facility running, and the shifts varied depending on rank. Squall, once he was fully trained on the terms and scheduling would be in charge of helping other first class soldiers run training exercise, missions and war councils with the other elite.  All things Squall figured he could do easily.

                “Alright, and after breakfast we…”

                “Meet up with Angeal for morning briefing. Usually he has a mission for me, but we’ll be skipping that in order to get some more training in. Then I gotta run you back to the Med-bay to get checked up on and see if your levels are okay.” He didn’t miss the grimace Squall made. “Yeah, I know, I hate needles too.”

                “It’s the waiting they make you do that bothers me.” Squall admitted. “I get bored easily.”

                After they’d cleared up, and ascended the ridiculously long elevator ride, they were greeted when the doors opened by Angeal. He scowled at the two, crossing his arms.

                “You’re late.”

                “We were in the mess.” Zack defended. “Squalls a growing boy, he needs to eat.”

                “You should have brought him to the mess up here. Where I was waiting for you.” Angeal scolded. “Give me sixty Fair.”

                Zack whined but dropped down to do push ups, surprising Squall.

                “Come on out, he can meet us in the training room.” Angeal ordered.

                Squall hesitantly stepped out of the elevator, watching the doors close with the Soldier still doing push ups. Angeal chuckled and shook his head.

                “Funniest thing about that, is that he’s not my trainee anymore and he still drops with out hesitation.” Angeal informed him. “Good to see you again, did you sleep well?”

                “Decently I guess.” He shrugged.

                Angeal walked him to the training room, swiping a card to unlock it, similar to the way Sephiroth had the previous day.

                “So, did Zack explain the protocols? How you’ll be training until we’re accustomed to your capabilities. You won’t be cleared for missions until we know the extent of your conditioning with Hojo.” Angeal summarized. “Since you were already a Commander in SeeD, we’ve decided that starting you off in the 1st class wouldn’t be a problem after you’ve gotten use to our way here. Given your record of infiltration, shouldn’t take you too long.”

                “You read my records?” Squall asked, not honestly too surprised.

                “Ofcourse, collectively, you’re the elite’s special project. We have to get you up to speed and that means being up to speed with you…” He paused, calculatingly examining his expressions. “Leon Loire should have been your birth name, correct? Instead you were documented with Squall Leonhart, correct?”

                Squall flinched, but managed to keep his poker face as he turned back to him.

                “No. I was orphaned at a young age, my birth certificate was blank. It is theorized that I may be related to the Loire, but there is no proof. Don’t slander us together.” He said coldly. “My name is Squall Leonhart and I have never used any other name.”

                “Noted,” Angeal replied, taking a seat. “Sephiroth was right about you. Very serious, not much room for joking around. You became a Commander so young, its not hard to see why. You’re a driven youth.”

                “As much as I love being a fascinating study for you guys, I’m not here entirely by choice.” Squall let out a sigh. Was everyone in this base trying to tick him off?

                Zack appeared in the door way, rolling his shoulders with a small scowl.

                “Not nice Angeal. People stared at me in the elevator.” He claimed.

                “Then next time, don’t be late just because you wanted to eat with the cadets.” Angeal replied with a shrug. “Now, why don’t we begin?”

                Zack grumbled and moved into the virtual simulation room, gesturing for Squall to join him. The older man insisted they start with stretches, leading Squall through the usual set for his own morning workout. Squall rolled his shoulders once they were finished, watching as Zack began a set of squats with an arched eyebrow.

                “Are we going to get to real training any time soon?” He asked impatiently.

                “Aw, come on! Just some squats and then we’ll move on.”

                “No. I already did my leg stretches.” He said putting a hand to his hip, pausing when he remembered that he didn’t have the lion heart with him. It was in its case in his new room. “Are we weapon training? Or hand to hand…”

                “Hand to hand.” Zack said, still doing his squats.

                “Great.” Squall mumbled.

                Zack bounced up and grinned, clapping his hands together.

                “Alright! Lets get to it! Lets got through the basics and then you can show me what you got!”

                Squall made a disgruntled noise as he moved into position. He preferred using weapons, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t versed in fist fighting. Zell had taught him a lot, and Seifer had thrown him around enough for him to be well versed in the basics. Zack made slow moves towards him, letting Squall counter and block.

                Squall could tell when Zack was getting ready to kick things up a notch, and he took the chance to beat him to it. Zack blinked in surprise, then smirked rushing forward to match Squall; the back and forth continued to pick up speed, until Squall was forced to go on the retreat. Zack was as quick as Zell, and probably stronger.

                “Keep your back straight, legs low.” Angeal advised from behind him. “Don’t move your feet so much.”

                Squall did his best to follow the instructions, trying to gain ground on Zack. He managed to grapple Zack for a moment before the other flipped him over onto his back, knocking the wind out of him.

                “Not bad… you’re kind of slow, but not bad on the form. We’ll get you up to speed in no time!” Zack grinned, watching Squall slowly regain his feet.  “SeeD’s really something.”

                “You should try me with my gunblade.”

                “I’ll take you up on that.” Zack assured him.

                They fought for several hours. Longer than Squall would of usually, and he was surprised to find he was still ready to go when Angeal declared that it was already afternoon and they should head to lunch. The day progressed similarly, being shuffled place to place, meeting with the doctors and then back to training. Sephiroth and Angeal spent a little time getting him up to date on Shinra and other organizations they had issues with, trying to teach him their politics as well as their schedules. It’d been a long time since Squall had found him in a position of learning. He’d climbed so rapidly in SeeD after the Ultimecia battle, that training had taken a back burner as had his studies as he became absorbed by running the Garden. He wasn’t going to be sent on missions just yet, but it felt good to fight someone who was a challenge. That wasn’t Seifer.

                “You look tired.” Zack chuckled as Squall sat down beside him when dinner was served. He grunted in response, quietly cutting into what he was assuming to be meat.

                “Don’t worry, once you’re use to it, it’ll get easier.”  He assured him.

                “Hey Zack…”

                Squall looked up as a blond haired man took a seat across from them. He looked rather tired himself, and dirt clung to his pale cheeks. He was clearly a 1st class, though he was wearing black rather than blue.

                “Hey Spike! Didn’t know you were back!” Zack chirped. “Hows Avalanche going?”

                “Ah… well… we’ve got everyone sorted out now. Aerith’s still not waking up, but after the cleansing, we’re not sure she will. Sephiroth’s doing his best to get Rufus on our side…” Mako inhanced blue eyes shifted over to Squall, a sheepish smile meeting the blonds face. “Oh… sorry, uh, I’m Cloud Strife, I was on the team that pulled you out of the Mako tank with Zack. How are you feeling?”

                “Decent. Just taking a bit to acclimate to SOLDIER.” He replied, glancing between the two.

                “Hey are you staying? Or are you going back to Tifa’s?” Zack asked.

                “I’m staying here for the night, theres a bunch of fiends out right now so its not safe to ride back to Midgar, but I’m leaving early since we still haven’t found Denzel…” He sighed rubbing his eyes.

                “Oh I get it… stay for a little TLC before you go, huh?” Zack  teased.

                Squall watched the blonds face flush red and he scowled at Zack. There was a thud as Zack jumped with a yelp, banging his knee on the table.

                “Ow Spike!” Zack whined.

                Cloud stuck his tongue out at Zack and dug into his meal. Squall had a feeling he was missing out on something big.

                “So… We’re still looking for Hojo too, Vincent has found another lab in Dublet, and theres been reports of other disappearances we think might be tied in.” Cloud said, looking at Squall now. “We’d really like anything you remember, or even any thoughts on the matter if you have them.”

                “We… haven’t briefed him on the hunt yet…” Zack cut in.

                “Why not?” Cloud and Squall asked.

                “Sephiroth wanted to get you comfortable before we involved you in finding Hojo.” Zack explained, pointing a fork at him. “Especially since you could give into Mako sickness.”

                “Hojo had him for three months Zack, it took him less time to turn me into a Soldier.” Cloud pointed out calmly. “I don’t think he’ll give into Mako sickness if you keep him updated.”

                “Do I need to remind you that you were unconscious and suffered from memory loss after Hojo’s rush job on you?” Zack retorted.

                “Well, that’s probably because I was mid-experiment when someone decided to blow up the lab.” Cloud shot back.

                The two were quiet for a moment. Squall snorted and shook his head.

                “I understand where both of you are coming from… but I’d prefer to keep involved if possible.” Squall offered. “I’m a bit confused though… you don’t seem to be the typical SOLDIER, Cloud.”

                “Ah… well, its really complicated. I belong to a couple different organizations, and to keep peace and see that everyones happy, I have to flip flop between SOLDIER and my other duties.” Cloud explained.

                For once Squall realized what everyone must think looking at him. This guy looked like he was Squalls age, maybe younger, but he was a 1st class Elite, and working for other groups? He chewed thoughtfully and cleared his throat.

                “No offense… but how old are you two?” He asked.

                “Twenty-two.” Cloud replied.

                “Twenty-five.” Zack chuckled. “I’m getting old!”

                “Don’t let Angeal hear you say that.” Cloud smiled a bit. “I just wanted to say hello anyway, I’m going to go up and give my report.”

                “Uh-huh. I’m sure. Enjoy the _briefing_.” Zack waggled his eyebrows. There was another thud, followed by Zacks pained yelp as Cloud got up and walked away.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

                Seifer rubbed his eyes as he rode the train back to Garden. He wasn’t even a student anymore, but he was being called in. Ever since Squall had gone missing, Cid had been calling Seifer in none stop to go over defenses. After all, next to Squall no one knew the Garden like the Disciplinary Committee.  Apparently, reports of people going missing from other Gardens, they wanted to gather enough people to set up protection for their cadets. Seifer couldn’t argue against that. Nor was he going to pass up the chance to see his friends again. Fuujin kept in touch, coming to visit him when she could. Raijin had been transferred, but he popped up on holidays.

                As always, Zell was there to greet him upon exiting the cart. The shorter blond didn’t look excited though, he looked like he needed a hot meal and a nap. Seifer straightened his jacket as he stepped onto the platform, getting a tired glare from Zell.

                “I haven’t even said anything yet, whats with that look chickenwuss?” Seifer scoffed.

                “I was preglaring at you.” He replied. “Do you always have to call me names?”

                “Yup.” He smirked, ruffling his hair. “Lets just get this meet and greet over.”

                Zell snorted, offering a small smile as he shoved the taller man, leading him into the Garden. Seifer flashed a cocky smirk to students that paused to stare, strutting through what once had been his halls. Zell just rolled his eyes and made him walk faster.

                “You’d think after being nearly executed for treason, you’d be a little humble walking through this school.” Zell commented, crossing his arms.

                “Dincht… There are constants in this world that keep people comfortable. I… am the king of this Garden and now that Ice Princess Squalls not around, they need something that feels familiar.” Seifer explained, folding his arms behind his neck.

                “I guess, but it probably won’t be long before Squall gets back. I mean… Soldier can’t force him to stay there forever right?”

                “Knowing Princess, he’ll pull some elaborate escape prank to get back here.” Seifer scoffed.

                “Irvine and I have a bet on how long it takes for Squall to completely piss off all their high rank soldiers.” Zell grinned.

                “I give it a week.” Seifer smirked a bit, shaking his head.

                They made it to the meeting room and Seifer took a seat, kicking his feet onto the table, much to Zells annoyance. The younger man didn’t respond though, choosing to pull up some files on the screen as Cid and a few of the teachers filed in to discuss the schools protection.

                “Students are going missing.” Cid admitted once everyone was at their seats. “First it was Squall, and then a few more. I didn’t think anything of it, but  our total is up to six missing since the original three. The other Gardens have noticed similar absences.”

                “Do you think it was the same guy?” Zell asked, sitting next to Seifer. “That Hojo, guy who wanted to continue the Mako research?”

                “That’s our theory. Soldier is trying to catch him, but in the mean time we have to protect our students.” Cid continued, gesturing to the map.

                “We should introduce a new curfew and possibly check in’s.” Seifer suggested, chewing a hang nail from his pinky in a bored fashion. “Keep tabs on everyone, that way if anyone disappears, we have a more comprehensible time line and idea of where they were snatched.”

                “Good idea, but a lot of the younger students are going to think its unfair.” Zell countered.

                “Well, they can suck it up. People’s lives are on the line.” Seifer scoffed.

                “My point is, some of them aren’t going to report in!” Zell groaned. “Can you not be an asshole?”

                “Boys.” Cid warned.

                “Make it required. No report in, no missions. No training time. All that jazz.” Seifer said, sitting up properly so he could reach the computer in front of him. “The younger students actually don’t seem like targets to me, he wants people who are strong and battle trained. SeeD’s, and the high ranked ones too. So long as we can get a reliable check in system going, it’ll help us at least figure out when and where they get snagged; if not stop it all together.”

                “These guys got into Squalls room and jumped him.” One of the teachers commented. “We need to return to using the camera system we abandoned after he went missing.”

                “Why’d you abandon it?” Seifer scoffed.

                “Squalls the only one who knew how it was set up. We couldn’t run it without him.” Zell said with an annoyed look. “He can explain it now though.”

x-x-x-x-x-x

                Squall’s back hit the wall and he rolled to avoid the strike that was aimed for his chest. Angeal’s blade didn’t even connect with the wall, he turned so quickly to redirect the swing. Squall ducked around him,  dive rolling across the floor and grabbing his fallen weapon on his way back up to his feet. He startled at the cold press of steel against his neck, looking up into the dark blue, glowing eyes of the general. Training with Zack was a challenge in itself, but Angeal was something completely different. He picked up on Squalls moves so quickly, and was always one step behind him. Squall only trained a few times with the man, but every time Squall found himself wanting to go again. The challenge was addicting.

                “You’ve improved.” Angeal commented, lowering his sword away from the youths neck.

                “Why doesn’t it ever feel like it?” Squall commented, clipping his gunblade in its holster. “What were my mistakes?”

                Angeal raised an eyebrow at him and chuckled a little.

                “You sound like Zack when he was a trainee.” He commented.

                Squall wrinkled his nose slightly. “Please don’t compare me to him…”  
                Angeal laughed and clapped Squall hard on his shoulder. They walked over to the consol where Angeal brought up footage of their fight.

                “You’re good at reading your opponent, but when I started to gain my advantage was when you started aggressing. You need to focus less on doing damage and more on out maneuvering your opponent.” Angeal expressed, pointing to the screen during specific parts of their fight.

                Squalls eyes followed there movements and nodded.

                “Can we go again?” He asked.

                Angeal let out a laugh and shook his head.

                “No, we’re going to check your vitals and then get you fed. Zack says you’ve been choosing coffee for breakfast the past few days.” Angeal commented, picking up his own drink. Squall found himself scowling.

                “I’ve never really been much of an eater, I prefer light meals.” He commented.

                “The Mako should be increasing your metabolism, meaning you need to eat more in order to retain a healthy body weight.” Angeal continued, gesturing for him to follow him.

                Squall sat still long enough for the man to take his vitals, and then lead him to the lunch room. He really wasn’t to hungry, but Angeal was right. He’d lost a few pounds since his kidnapping, and his muscle mass was still returning slowly with their training. He’d eat for the sake of eating if it meant that he got more time training.

                Cloud was around again, he noted when Angeal broke away from him to go talk with Sephiroth. The blond still looked tired, but he was cleaner than their first meeting. He was in line, chatting with Zack as Squall joined them.

                “Hey! How are you doing?” Cloud asked, his voice always seemed to be gentle. “Are they going easy on you?”

                “Easy on him? Geez Spike, all this guy does is hang out in the VR room.” Zack scoffed with a grin.

                “I’m doing fine, thanks.” Squall replied, ignoring Zacks comment. “Angeal and Zack have been helping me train, and admittedly, its nice to feel challenged again.”

                Cloud gave him a curious look at that.

                “Which level did you start out in?” He asked curisously.

                “Squally here made it up into the low one tens on his first day before he tired out. Sephiroth oversaw it, fought for six solid hours.” Zack told him.

                “So… you were pretty much on par with 1st class trainees before the Mako… interesting.” Cloud reached up to brush his bangs back thoughtfully. “You are well known, I guess that reputation is what made you a target.”

                “Angeal speculates I’ll be on Zacks level within a year.” Squall commented as he started to dish up his plate on the line. Zack tsked at him and promptly started to take over, making sure he got plenty of food. Even Clouds plate was piled a little high.

                “I’d love to spar with you sometime then.” Cloud offered with a smile.

                “Don’t do it, it’s a trap.” Zack whispered. “He cheats.”

                “I do not!” Cloud gaffed.

                Zack laughed and danced out of reach from the blond. Cloud settled for the more mature response of throwing peas at him. Squall found himself smiling for a brief moment, he missed his friends. There was an unsettling knot in his stomach; with a sigh he took his plate and passed by the warring 1sts and headed for his usual table. It was next to the generals table, but far away enough that he felt like he had his space.

                “You okay?” Cloud asked as he joined him.

                “Yeah…” He replied flatly. “Just thinking.”

                Cloud nodded, watching as Zack took the seat next to him and tucked into his meal ravenously.

                “You must be lonely.” Cloud commented idly. “I always miss my other friends when I’m here for too long. I’m sure after the preliminary tests are over, we can arrange to take you back to the Garden for a visit. Collect some of your personal effects, say hi.”

                Squall glanced at Cloud who was still watching Zack eat like a starved child with a light smile. The younger man found himself wondering if he was reading his mind, but after a minute of observing Cloud he realized something. They were a like. Cloud held a lot of responsibilities, and he was only two years older than Squall. Who knew what he’d done to get to where he was.

                “That’d be appreciated.” He said after a moment.

                “Tell me about the Garden. Why’d you join?” Cloud asked.

                “The Headmasters wife took care of me when I was a kid, so when I was old enough, I was entered into Balamba.” Squall said with a shrug.

                “Did you ever want to do something different? Or was Balamba your dream?” Zack asked from the side.

                Squall frowned, staring at his plate.

                “To personal?” Cloud asked. “You don’t have to answer.”

                “I just never really thought about it. I joined because I wanted to learn how to fight I guess… I’ve never been social, so swinging a sword is easier for me than conversing.” Squall admitted with a shrug. “Never questioned it, because I’m good at it.”

                Cloud made a small hum of understanding, putting his chin in his hand.

                “Sometimes I wonder what would of happened if I never joined soldier.” Zack offered up, making a face. “Probably  some lame job back in Gongaga….”

                “Before or after your parents whipped you senseless for running off?” Cloud asked.

                “Hmm… After.” Zack chuckled. “You’d probably be running that bar with Tifa, right?”

                “Probably. I mean, that or-“ Cloud trailed off, a frown pulling his lips. For a moment darkness swept over his face and from the look Zack gave him, Squall was guessing the blond had a secret of some sort.

                “Spike?”

                “Sorry, just… lost in thought.” He smiled again, almost looking like he was embarrassed. “Pretty much same as Zack, either Soldier or back water town with a lame job,”

                “You alright?” Squall questioned.

                “Yeah, really.” He assured them. “I am however really bored… Zack when are you cleared for ops again?”

                “Not until Squalls training is over.” Zack admitted, glancing at Squall. “Not to sound super baby-sitter, but the lil scamps under my wing.”

                “Call me scamp again and I’ll break your so called wing.” Squall responded coldly.

                “What… if we took him with us? I need some help clearing the lower plate.” Cloud suggested tentatively.

                “Cloud…”

                “I’m in for it. If I can handle three hours of Angeal, fighting off some fiends will be nothing.” Squall argued.

                “It’d be a chance to gage his infield skills, I’m sure I can get Sephiroth to sign off on it.” Cloud continued, standing up to search the 1st class Soldiers for the general.

                “That’s cheating! I don’t get to pull the ‘special’ card, why do you?” Zack whined.

                Cloud gave him a cheeky smile. “Cause our ‘special’ cards are different.”

                The blond got up and headed out of the cafeteria to find the general. Squall arched his eyebrow again, these two were strange and he knew that  there was some giant piece of their story that he was missing with all the jokes they cracked at each other.

                “Special card?”

                “Eh, him and I are the favorites of the generals… so we get special cards.” He explained. “I’ve been working with Angeal since I was sixteen. Cloud joined when he was fifteen, but after Hojo went rogue and he was made into a 1st Class, things got weird. Him and Sephiroth both disappeared for a bit then turned up half dead. Clouds short and Sephiroths a giant, do you know how weird it is seeing him try to carry a guy a foot taller than him and an unconscious girl?”

                “What happened to them?” Squall asked.

                “Don’t really know the whole story… but that when all the rules of Soldier started to change.” Zack shrugged his shoulders. “Spikey changed after that though… he use to be real quiet and awkward. He was kind of our runt, but after that disappearance, everything changed. He’s more confident now.”

                Squall nodded, looking down at his empty plate, curiousity pulling at his mind. He wondered what had caused such a big change. He didn’t have much time to think about it as Cloud was suddenly leaning over his shoulder with a bright green piece of paper.

                “Cleared for supervised low grade opps. How do you like those chocobo feathers?” He asked smugly.

                “I hate you. And your fluffy hair.” Zack groaned.


	2. SeeD to SOLDIER

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Squall starts to get a feel for his new routines and is actually feeling like he's learning something. Seifer's getting use to being back in the Garden and dealing with his own self-loathing.

** Chapter 2 **

                The garden was surprisingly quiet when Seifer returned to start work on the new watch rotations for the security. Students were all shuffling quickly from class to class, not stopping to chit chat or joke around with their friends. Seifer arched an eyebrow, surprised that the new protocols were being followed so quickly and obediently. It probably wouldn’t last.

                “Seifer, you’re late.” Zell pointed out as he came down the hallway.

                “Yeah, well that happens sometimes… People are allowed to be five minutes late when they’re not being paid to do stuff.” Seifer shot back, arching an eyebrow at the younger blond.  His eyes were lined with dark circles and bruising showed along his cheek bones, his neck looked like someone had attempted strangling him. “What the hell happened to you.”

                Zells hand went up to his throat self consciously, and shrugged his shoulders. “Come on, I’ll explain as we go.”

                Seifer fell into step with the SeeD, headed up to the secure floors.

                “There was a raid on one of the suspected hide outs for that Hojo guy. I took a team in and we ran into a squad of Soldiers… There might have been an argument.” Zell explained, folding his arms up over his shoulders, nearly knocking Seifer with his elbow. “They say finding Hojo is their business, not ours.”

                “Did you win?” Seifer asked, arching an eyebrow.

                “Duh.” Zell grinned rather proudly. “It was a free for all for a while, but in the end my team were the ones who were still conscious.”

                “You’re turning into a little shit.” Seifer laughed. “Can’t say I’m not proud though… Soldier should know that once Hojo attacked a SeeD member, it became SeeD territory. Just how it works.”

                “Exactly… unfortunately though, as you can guess. Hojo wasn’t there. It was completely barren.” Zell continued with an annoyed huff of air. “We got a hold of Squall… He was only able to talk for a minute while they were doing some weird tests on him.”

                “And how is the Ice Princess holding up there?”  
                “He looked like he was ready to kill the nurse that wouldn’t stop jabbing him while he was trying to explain the system to us. He expressed that he wanted us to make sure there was still a school to come back too; which I think is Squall speak for ‘I’m homesick and miss you guys.’”

                “Possibly. That or he thinks the headmaster and board are all idiots who will destroy his precious school.” Seifer snorted.

                “Nah… I think he misses us.”

                Silence settled comfortably as Zell led him up into the new control room they’d set up for the security cameras, monitors lined the entire room and three people sat watching vigilantly over all of them. Seifer hummed and looked from screen to screen, mentally placing each hallway, class room and entrance. He had the school memorized, and knowing each monitor would help him figure out where he needed to go.

                “You think we’ll need to add any?” Zell asked. “I was thinking a couple in the side entrances…”

                “If we do I think they should be outside.” Seifer agreed pointing to a side area. “I also want to get some sensors on all these doors, secondary ones that aren’t attached to the main system so they can’t be dummied.”

                Seifer hooked his foot under a chair and dragged it closer to him so he could evaluate the screens thoroughly.

                Zell looked at his phone and sighed, stretching his arms. “I got a mission, you should go talk to Cid when you get a chance. He’s going to issue you a vector pass…”

                Seifer arched an eyebrow turning to look at the shorter boy.

                “Its suppose to be a big deal, act humble okay?” Zell said rolling his eyes.

                Seifer scoffed and waved him off turning back to his work. Honestly, it was a pretty big deal, after he’d been kicked out of the program and his life spared, the idea of being handed a security key was a privilege he’d be stupid not to act a little grateful. No doubt he’d be watched constantly, Zell was supposed to be his escort during his visits. Being in the main hub was probably the only reason he wasn’t being babysat.

                Watching the screens he wondered if he’d of ever gotten this chance if Balamba hadn’t lost their star SeeD. After being expelled, he’d had a bit of a reality check waiting for his sentence in the Balambain prison. Squall had shown up for a conversation a few days before his trail which turned from deep conversation into a rather brutal brawl that took five guards to separate. They really scared the men because the moment they were pulled apart the two burst into laughter. Before he left, Squall hesitated, watching him silently as he considered the blond. Seifer knew Squall had a hard time putting his deeper thoughts into words, but he pointed out that Seifer was just as good of a fighter as he was, physically Squall was hard pressed to beat him in hand to hand; on skill level they were equals.  He pointed out that as the head of the disciplinary committee, he was feared, but respected by students. Not making SeeD shook his confidence so much, he’d let Ultimecia into his mind, brain washing him into forgetting just how much he really had going for him.

                He wasn’t happy realizing his weakness was mental, not physical. He spent hours peeling apart why he’d let Ultimecia get to him. He’d always had a temper, and a hero complex. He’d always been the one who bailed the other orphans out of trouble, like the asshole brother nobody wanted, but still needed.  He was good at what he did, so long as he got to do it his way. This caused a lot of conflict with the adults in his life. He was always being scolded and put down for what he’d thought to be right. It’d worn him down until he’d just wanted anyone to make feel validated. Unfortunately Ultimecia was the one to step up.

Now the Ice prince had been whisked off and Seifer found himself in this awkward second chance. He didn’t think he would actually ever return to SeeD, but reclaiming respect was step towards doing something successful. Something he could be proud of outside of SeeD.

“Theres a couple Cadets lurking in the hallway behind the library.” Seifer announced to the other SeeDs in the security hub. “Who wants to go tell them they’re out of bounds?”

Two looked at each other before the one on the end sighed heavily and stood up. She walked past the other two, smacking each of them in turn on the back of the head.       

“Alright, I’m headed there now, hit me up on the walkie if they move.” She said snatching up a black compact.

“Don’t get lost.” Seifer yawned.

x-x-x-x

                “Zack! Get down from there!” Cloud yelled, looking slightly exasperated as he dismounted his bike. Squall had ridden with Zack, and almost immediately the man had climbed up the wreckage of a building when they arrived.

                “Hey! I bet I can jump to the other roof!” Zack called back.

                “Zackary Fair, get down here I mean it!” Cloud yelled, huffing as his bike opened several compartments. Squall arched an eyebrow watching with interest as Cloud assembled his sword. He looked back up at Zack who seemed to be debating between jumping and listening to Cloud.

                “So which plate is this?” Squall asked, unclasping his gunblade’s strap for easy access.

                “Sector three.” Cloud responded, looking around with a sigh. “See… there are eight sectors… nine if you want to count sector zero…  See, the upper class wanted a safe city away from the fiends, but when the Soldier reform happened… some decided sabotage might sway us back into line… so they dropped a couple plates and destroyed the towns below them….”

                Squall nodded solemnly, he’d heard about the tragedies through the news. For a while Soldier was really looked down upon while Midgar sorted itself out, SeeD had been too busy with Ultimecia to pay really too much attention to the other countries problems.

                “Hey, I see fiends just up ahead.” Zack announced dropping between  them from a broken pillar. He hooked an arm around Squalls shoulder, grinning brightly. “Ready to see how the big leagues do it?”

                “Zack… you realize at SeeD they catch fiends and keep them in a training area?” Cloud pointed out with a small smile, watching as Squall smirked a bit. “T-Rexaur’s and Ochu’s…. all sorts.”

                Zack made a face, looking at Squall with a look that might have been admiration or he thought the younger man was crazy.

                “So… Ready to see how the big leagues do it?” Squall tossed his question back at him.

                Cloud laughed and hefted his buster blade over his shoulder into its straps, while Zack grumbled about SeeD’s being insane, running up against huge fiends with absolutely no mako infusions.

                “Come on lets go already.” Squall said leading the way towards their enemy.

                The three walked carefully, circling around to the fiends. From what Squall could see as they dropped into crouches to avoid detection, there was a small swarm of six or seven bite bugs, and a pack of kalm fangs. Cloud put a hand on his shoulder, before he began circling to the side. Zack headed in the opposite direction. He waited for them to be a fair distance away before he let out a long breath, reaching for the spells he’d equipped before they’d set out.

Drawing on the fire, he stepped into the open, lifting his hand to cast at the bite bugs. The fiends screeched with surprise, scattering in separate directions, while one fell to the ground twitching as it tried to roll out the fire. The Kalm Fangs all snarled and turned to face Squall, two of them charging only to be cut off by a powerful swing from Zack’s buster blade, sending the dog like creature flying with a yelp, its companion just barely managing to dodge away.

Cloud sliced a bug out of the air as he joined the fray. Squall called on another fire spell, aiming for the back of the Kalms, startling them into movement before he twirled his blade in practiced ease as he moved closer to the fight.

The two Soldiers were fast and efficient enough, though their attempt to go directly for the kill irritated Squall a bit, if they took time to build a strategy he could of explained casting magic to the back of their pack or swarms distracted them long enough make wiping them out much faster, but they seemed quite content just fighting it out the hard way.

As they fought, the noise drew in more fiends. Squall found himself nearly spored on by a Funguar, when he realized the reinforcements were pouring in. Cloud and Zack were holding their own, so Squall concentrated on not letting them get flanked.

“We’re about to have problems.” Zack yelled suddenly. “Two reds, coming over!”

“Reds?” Squall turned his head towards the man, not understanding the name. He felt a small chill worm up his spine. Ruby Dragons, that’s what Zack meant by reds. They were watching almost curiously, one perched on the same roof Zack had considered jumping onto, while the other one was coming slowly up the path, a long tongue snaking out to taste the air as it eye’d the blond soldier, probably considering how tastey he’d be. Ruby Dragons were tough to beat, even with a team; the fiends were smart and didn’t usually travel in pairs. Squall had the disturbing notion they were mates, which meant that the tree of them probably would not be leaving without some burns.

“I’ve got it!” Squall announced, drawing on his junctions.

Ice formed over his hand as he physically reached out, trying to connect with Shiva. The link trembled and then all at once; shattered. A burst of ice spread out from Squall, frosting the ground as he stared, bewildered at his own hand. Scowling he tried again, concentrating on contacting the GF he’d junctioned with countless times before. She refused to come to his call, though he could feel her presence in the back of his mind, cool and calm.

“Look out!”

Squall dodged, just in time to avoid being speared through the chest by one of the bugs. He let out a frustrated growl and slashed it out of the air, retreating up to higher ground as he tried again, this time reaching for a different junction. None responded to him, not even Bahamet seemed to be connected; Just Shiva, quiet and cold in the back of his mind.

“What are you trying to do?” Zack called out, concerned as he and Cloud cleared fiends, while trying to keep their eyes on the dragons.

“Summon, but somethings wrong.” Squall answered, shaking his hands as though it’d help. One of the Ruby Dragons was moving into the battle, flames bathed part of the battle field, making several fiends yelp and Clouds silhouette disappeared for a long moment. Zack and Squall made their way towards the giant beast, ready to help slay it before the blond got fried to a crisp.

Cloud was already laying some damage on the beast. Squall fought, keeping the smaller fiends off them and helping take down the Ruby Dragon; by the time the second joined them, he was feeling a little hard pressed. Zack looked uneasy as he used reflect to protect them from the secondary fire bursts and Cloud’s face had gone completely blank, like he was trying to think of a way out of this. Squall reached again for Shiva, this time pushing hard trying to get her frozen ass to respond, there was none at first but Squall refused to back down. He drew her forward.

                _You are not strong enough_ …

Shiva’s words in his head startled him. “What the hell do you mean not strong enough?”

There was silence again, so Squall dug in and pulled hard again at her junction. He swore he could hear the annoyed sigh just as the ice burst from him again, startling Cloud and the Ruby Dragon. Shiva took form just above them in the air, her first attack was powerful enough to throw the beast back a few feet crashing onto its side as she turned to deal with the other one. Squall had never seen a guardian force so angry before. He took a step to help her with the other Ruby Dragon and felt nausea, cold and sour bile raising up his throat. She disappeared suddenly.

                _You are not well…_

                Squall knew that something was wrong. Summoning Shiva had made him ill, his blood suddenly felt like it was on fire and his stomach was practically screaming at him. Cloud and Zack dealt with the Ruby that was down, while Squall tried to gather himself, fighting through the small gathering fiends. He was not proud to say he vomited, eyes burning as a sickly sweet smell met him. He was pretty sure commonly, vomit didn’t look so iridescent, but he could revisit that later.

                The battle was in no way short, it took them nearly an hour to take down both Dragons and the smaller fiends flocking to them. When Squall sat on the bike, he was shaking and felt like death. Zack touched his face, first a palm to the cheek and then the back of his hand on his forehead.

                “Lionheart you’re nearly frozen.” He commented, looking over at Cloud for help. The blond retrieved a red materia orb, fire no doubt from his bag, pushing it into Squalls hands.

                “You don’t look so good…” He admitted, glancing at Zack then him. “We should get him back…” 

                “We’re nearly done here, I’ll be fine for a while longer…” Squall argued moving to stand. His stomach complained and he had to fight down more bile.

                “No, Squall, we brought you out cause you did so well in training, but if you’re showing physical signs of illness, we have to take you in to the med bay. Come on.” Zack insisted.

                “I’ll catch up with you guys.” Cloud promised, “I got this.”

                Squall wanted to argue, to tell Cloud that it was to dangerous by himself, but they’d already handled the biggest beasts in the area, hopefully, and Cloud seemed to smart to walk into a battle he couldn’t win on his own. He allowed himself to be shepherded into place behind Zack on the bike. 

x-x-x-x

                The lunch room was empty by the time Seifer decided to swing through for food. A few straggling SeeDs that weren’t required to take afternoon classes anymore milled around, chatting while the blond man made his way through the cafeteria line. It was nice having no one in line, he got to take his sweet time choosing and no one was staring at him. Well, no one but the cooks. He flashed a smile when ever one accidently met his eye, getting a series of scowls or startled responses. Ultimately, the reputation afforded him by his time with Ultimecia was like a stain clinging to his very being.

                “Well, don’t you look lonely.”

                Seifer turned, only mildly surprised to see Selphie slipping under the metal guard rail that kept the line organized during high traffic times of the day. She smiled brightly at him, as though he’d never tried to murder her before.

                “What can I say, I’m a pariah.” He said, shrugging his shoulders.

                “Oh, hush. Its not all that bad.” She scoffed, grabbing his half filled tray and making a small plate for herself to the side of his. She  looked up and scowled right back at one of the cooks. “He’s on our side! Go clean a dish!”

                Seifer cracked a smile. Typical bubbly Selphie.

                “You realize they have every right to hate me?” He pointed out getting waved at dismissively again.

                “You made a mistake and lost your marbles. Look how hard you’re trying to earn them all back.” She rebuked, smiling at him again. “Want to split a cake piece? Its sooo good.”

                “You disturb me.” He cringed a bit. “You’re either really naïve or plain stupid. I committed a pretty big crime.”

                “Waah, look at me. I’m Seifer.” She whimpered, sticking out her lip. “I’m all lonely cause I don’t think I deserve friends anymore.”

                Seifer glared at her, and grabbed his tray. Stomping away as she giggled after him. He’d forgotten how annoying her optimism could be.  She was still the same childish, upbeat girl he’d grown up with, that was for damn sure. She flopped down next to him at the table, picking at her small plate as she hummed thoughtfully.

                “Not all of us were against you, you know.” She sighed before taking a bite, chewing carefully before continuing. “Squally and I both testified for you, and Zell, even though he was pretty mad… still is really, he even said you didn’t deserve the treason penalty.”

                “And Irvine?”

                “Well… he was a little hot headed during the trial, but he’s admitted sense that he just thinks you were loco.” She shrugged. “Most of us though… we got it. It was Squall that really pointed out to be honest. We were all mad and like ‘ _Ooh! That Seifer, I hope he gets it good. Grr!_ ’-“

                Her explanation was joined by a scowl and little stabbing motions with her fork. “Then Squally was all calm about it and pointed out you weren’t… well… you weren’t you.”

                Seifer stared at her, eating silently as he waited for her to be finished. Seriously, it annoyed him how many people seemed to recognize him as crazy rather than just assuming he was an asshole. He didn’t know which he preferred; the glares were easier to deal with than the pity. He sighed and shook his head again.

                “Gross, you look all unSeiferish when you pout.” She said with a wrinkled nose.

                “You’re really very annoying. You know that right Committee witch?” Seifer snorted, offering a small amused look.

                “Its my best quality!” She cheered, smile turning a little bitter. “Really though… I hate seeing my friends upset… and I know you did a lot of bad things… but I’m still here. So please… just try to remember you got people in your corner.”

                “Thanks.”

                “Soo… Are you going to be at the briefings when we send out teams to look for Hojo?” Selphie asked, taking another bite. “I mean since you’re like our safety captain right?”

                “Probably not. I’m just here to keep the school protected.” Seifer replied through a mouth full.

                Selphie stuck her tongue and blew a raspberry to show her opinion that.

                The two ate in silence for a minute, Selphie eventually set her empty plate by Seifers on his tray and stretched, making a small squeak like noise that made Seifer snort. She was truly a child still.

                “Welp! I’ll see you around Captain Grump. Don’t be a stranger alright?”

                “I promise to not make too big of an effort to avoid you, but I can’t promise not to dodge down a hallway.” He mumbled, hurrying to finish his own food. He had to meet up with Cid, alone. Something he hadn’t been looking forward to for most of the day.

x-x-x-x

                Squall was struggling to stay conscious by the time Zack got him into med bay. He felt like he was going to vomit, again and his body felt like it was on fire, burning from the inside out. Zack had to peel him out of his riding military issue jacket, the white training shirt was sticking to him and patchs appeared, green?

                “Mako sickness.” The doctor decided immediately when she saw him. “Alright Soldier can you tell me what you were doing when you started getting sick?”

                “Fighting.” Zack answered for Squall. “1st Class Strife and I took him out for some in field testing, and he was doing fine through most of the battle, then suddenly… he was vomiting and shaking.”

                “Summoning.” Squall interjected. “I attempted to junction a Gaurdian force…”

                “Junction?” Zack looked confused, looking between Squall and the doctor.

                “Junctioning is a form of summoning without materia Lieutenant Fair.” The doctor responded pressing a cool hand to Squalls back, steadying him as she checked out his heart rate and breathing. “SeeD members rarely use materia, for anything really. They harness a more fundamental level of magic based on their own mana levels and drawing reserves.”

                “I tried to call on Shiva but she refused, then when I forced it, it was like a damn broke inside me and I just felt sick.” Squall explained, head spinning as he clutched onto her arm to keep upright. He was going to pass out, at this rate.

 

                Zack stepped back as nurses crowded his trainee, giving them enough room to move Squall onto his back. No sooner than the youths eye’s closed he began to seize and Zack tasted bile; He had to get out of there, he couldn’t be useless while his new friend’s body surrendered to mako poisoning. He exited into the hallway; pulling out his phone so he could call and update Sephiroth. He’d been the one to give them the okay to take him out after all.

                “Hello puppy.” Genesis’s voice purred over the line. Zack felt a twitch coming on.

                “Gen, I need to talk to Seph. Its important.” He sighed. “Its about Squall…”

                “Squall?” Genesis repeated, sounding a bit confused. Zack heard the murmer of the other Generals voice somewhere in the background. “Oh! The boy from Balamb. How is the little _weed_.”

                “Critical condition, he’s in the medical bay.”

                The line was quiet for a moment. “We’ll be down right away.”

                Zack nodded, then cleared his throat giving an affirmation verbally. He glanced back in the medical bay, people were still swarming Squall, yelling and calling out for different things Zack didn’t have the expertise to know the meaning too. It felt like hours until a warm hand took his and squeezed gently. He looked up, Genesis was standing beside him looking grim with his ashen hair and tired features. Genesis had nearly died from geostigma; degrading painfully until Cloud brought a woman to cure him. Zack still didn’t know much about how, just that she’d fallen ill shortly after. Cloud refused to talk about it much.

                Sephiroth stepped past them and into the fray, demanding an update on his condition.

                “He’s a strong boy. I think he’ll be okay.” Genesis promised, squeezing his upper arm this time. “Come now, its not good to watch these sorts of things if it can be avoided. Seph will bring us news when he’s done.”

                “I shouldn’t have taken him out. He was doing so good in training, I didn’t think…. Urgh!” Zack pushed both hands up his face and into his hair.

                “Zack do you know what happened the first time Sephiroth, Angeal and I went out on a mission after having hundreds of tests done on us?” Genesis asked.

                “Did… one of you get sick like this?” He asked, looking up hopefully.

                “No. Sephiroth fell into the river and Angeal bashed his knee so hard the man cried. He limped for  a week.” Genesis responded with a solemn face. “We never know what’s going to happen, only handle it the best we can. You should know that by now Soldier.”

                Zack laughed softly, it was hard to picture any of the generals as ungraceful as that, but they were cadets once too he guessed.

                “Go on, go tell Angeal what we know. I’ll text you once Seph’s done in there.” He assured him.

                Zack nodded and slowly walked away from the medbay, trying to block out the yelling doctor. Genesis was right Squall was a shining example of what it took to be a first class soldier; he could pull through this better than the average person would.

                “Please… just let him survive…” He mumbled.

 


	3. Thank the Goddess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seifer still struggles with how he feels about his future and past. The Soldier's try to keep up with whats going on with their sick new recruit. Genesis and Cloud discuss the woman Aerith. Why does she keep coming up?

** Chapter 3 **

                The lunch room was empty by the time Seifer decided to swing through for food. A few straggling SeeDs that weren’t required to take day classes anymore milled around, chatting while the blond man made his way through the cafeteria line. It was nice having no one in line, he got to take his sweet time choosing and no one was staring at him. Well, no one but the cooks. He flashed a smile when ever one accidently met his eye, getting a series of scowls or startled responses. Ultimately, the reputation afforded him by his time with Ultimecia was like a stain clinging to his very being.

                “Well, don’t you look lonely.”

                Seifer turned, only mildly surprised to see Selphie slipping under the metal guard rail that kept the line organized during high traffic times of the day. She smiled brightly at him, as though he’d never tried to murder her before.

                “What can I say, I’m a pariah.” He said, shrugging his shoulders.

                “Oh, hush. Its not all that bad.” She scoffed, grabbing his half filled tray and making a small plate for herself to the side of his. She looked up and scowled right back at one of the cooks. “He’s on our side! Go clean a dish!”

                Seifer cracked a smile. Typical bubbly Selphie.

                “You realize they have every right to hate me?” He pointed out getting waved at dismissively again.

                “You made a mistake and lost your marbles. Look how hard you’re trying to earn them all back.” She rebuked, smiling at him again. “Want to split a cake piece? Its sooo good.”

                “You disturb me.” He cringed a bit. “You’re either really naïve or plain stupid. I committed a pretty big crime.”

                “Waah, look at me. I’m Seifer.” She whimpered, sticking out her lip. “I’m all lonely cause I don’t think I deserve friends anymore.”

                Seifer glared at her, and grabbed his tray. Stomping away as she giggled after him. He’d forgotten how annoying her optimism could be.  She was still the same childish, upbeat girl he’d grown up with, that was for damn sure. She flopped down next to him at the table, picking at her small plate as she hummed thoughtfully.

                “Not all of us were against you, you know.” She sighed before taking a bite, chewing carefully before continuing. “Squally and I both testified for you, and Zell, even though he was pretty mad… still is really, he even said you didn’t deserve the treason penalty.”

                “And Irvine?”

                “Well… he was a little hot headed during the trial, but he’s admitted sense that he just thinks you were loco.” She shrugged. “Most of us though… we got it. It was Squall that really pointed out to be honest. We were all mad and like ‘ _Ooh! That Seifer, I hope he gets it good. Grr!_ ’-“

                Her explanation was joined by a scowl and little stabbing motions with her fork. “Then Squally was all calm about it and pointed out you weren’t… well… you weren’t you.”

                Seifer stared at her, eating silently as he waited for her to be finished. Seriously, it annoyed him how many people seemed to recognize him as crazy rather than just assuming he was an asshole. He didn’t know which he preferred; the glares were easier to deal with than the pity. He sighed and shook his head again.

                “Gross, you look all unSeiferish when you pout.” She said with a wrinkled nose.

                “You’re really very annoying. You know that right Committee witch?” Seifer snorted, offering a small amused look.

                “Its my best quality!” She cheered, smile turning a little bitter. “Really though… I hate seeing my friends upset… and I know you did a lot of bad things… but I’m still here. So please… just try to remember you got people in your corner while you’re working to make up for it.”

                “Thanks.”

                “Soo… Are you going to be at the briefings when we send out teams to look for Hojo?” Selphie asked, taking another bite. “I mean since you’re like our safety captain right?”

                “I’m not sure yet. Cid’s bouncing the idea around, but right now I’m just the guard monkey in charge of watching after the dumbasses here in the school.” He said between bites.

                Selphie didn’t respond that time, nibbling at the piece of cake she’d gotten for them to split. She glanced at her phone and sighed, using a napkin to dust off her top before standing up.

                “I’ve got a briefing, I’ll see you around, okay?” She pat his shoulder as he grunted a good bye.

                She was like a little hurricane of positivity. Showed up out of nowhere, said shit that was supposed to be encouraging and then disappeared again. He’d already been given the vector pass, and had acted accordingly; if he asked to be a part of the briefings so soon he was worried that it would come across as brazen. He had to show a certain level of caution as he worked himself back into SeeD’s respect.

                “Seifer!” Lenal, one of the girls from the control hub called to him from the doors. “We got some suspicious movement.”

                Abandoning his tray, Seifer walked towards her. Lenal was the most tolerable of the three workers in the control hub. She didn’t question him unless it was purposefully trying to understand or make a valid suggestion. She also didn’t look at him like he was a criminal, just like he was getting on her final nerve, which was the same expression the other two Jathan and Nalia got from her as well. She made him miss Fuujin if he was being honest.

                “Where was the alert?”

                “South end of the school.” She said holding up a notepad with the camera number and location, she took a steady speed next to Seifers long strides, letting him read as they headed to the correct location.

x-x-x-x

                Seifer frowned as he looked over the cadets in front of him. The idiots who had been sneaking off grounds to go to some party. Just as he’d told Cid before, they were not taking the security increase seriously. He had to hand it to them, they were pretty smart, using a back gate with a stolen teacher pass rather than trying to tamper with the fence to make an exit. From their files, he could see that they were registered to take the exam’s come spring.

                “What are we going to do for punishment?” Lenal asked.

                “Put the fear of the gods into them…” Seifer replied, slipping out of his reclined position.

                “Tsk, I don’t believe in god…” One of the boys snipped at him.

                “Then the fear of me, which is practically the same thing.” Seifer replied evenly, standing up and flicking open one of the kids files for effect. “Magna… decent grades, decent field work… Not to great of an attitude.”

                He looked up at Lenal and handed the folder over to her.

                “Suspend them from the training field for a week and bar them from the upcoming exam. No ones going to take the new security measures seriously if we don’t show what’s going to happen in retaliation.” Seifer decided.

                “What!? You’re not even a teacher!” One of the kids argued.

                “He is in charge of the security though, and if you piss off security, you get a punishment.” Lenal responded, tucking the folder under her arm. “I’ll let Instructor Quitis know…”

                “Let her know I’ll catch up with her about further choices on the punishment. I’m going to go finish my lunch if that’s okay with these shits.” Seifer sighed. “Go ahead and announce what happens to cadets who think breaking rules is fun.”

                Lenal shepherded the three out of the room. Seifer rubbed his temples and let out a long anguished groan; he couldn’t even enjoy the same simple pleasure of knowing he controlled people in the school, because he was too busy being worried about holes in his security. Now he had to have all the teachers and SeeD’s security passes reset; same with classroom and dorm room codes. Everything needed to be overhauled. Cid wasn’t going to like this at all.

                “How did Squall keep all this shit in order?” He grumbled, forcing himself to get up.

                He needed to get in touch with all the teams out on missions too, that way they wouldn’t be caught unaware by the new changes. It was an excuse to call Fuujin at least, see how she was doing.

                “I didn’t realize your reputation was so dead on… Light punishments aren’t your thing?” Lenal commented as she returned into the room.

                “I’m not here to be liked.” Seifer responded, flicking through his phone for Fuujins number. “Kids are dumb, they don’t think ‘what if it were me’. They think they’re invincible.”

                Lenal pushed her copper hair out of her face, picking up her notepad to take notes on the situation.  “You would of made a good, but terrifying commander…”

                “Excuse me?” Seifer scoffed.

                She shrugged her shoulders. Letting the comment linger in Seifers mind as she finished scribbling down her notes. “I’ll see you back at the hub.”

               

x-x-x-x

                Sephiroth could feel the nervous energy coming off of Zack as he entered the waiting area of the 1st class’s floor. Genesis was with him, reading Loveless for what could only be the millionth time. The ashen haired man lifted his green eyes to Sephiroths in a silent question, to which Sephiroth could only shrug to show for his lack of knowing just how critical Squalls condition was. Cloud had returned at some point while he was dealing with doctors, and was currently discussing something in hushed tones with Angeal.

                “Is he going to be okay?” Zack asked with a frown.

                Cloud and Angeal went silent, looking over at the taller man.

                “We are uncertain as it stands at this point, but the doctors believe they understand what happened,” Sephiroth offered as he took a seat in one of the arm chairs provided. Cloud slipped in to sit by Zack on the couch, and Angeal took the armchair next to Genesis.

                “Due to the way SeeD’s junction with their summons, the doctor believes that the Aeon  Shiva was keeping the Mako _frozen_ inside Squall. Just enough to make it so his system wasn’t overloaded. There was a high concentration of Mako, meaning Shiva probably started freezing from the moment that Hojo tried infusing him. Squall forcing her summon removed her from him in such a way that it released her control over the Mako…”

                “So… He was essentially hit with months’ worth of injections at once…” Genesis supplied.

                “Yes. It was amazing he even managed to stay conscious as long as he did.” Sephiroth let out a long sigh, folding his fingers together. “I’m waiting to inform SeeD about his condition, however I think they should be warned about the Junction’s possible affects.”

                “As it stands, we should wait to see what side affects occur should Squall pull through.” Cloud said with a frown. “I suffered major memory loss, it’s a possibility that if he wakes up…”

                “He won’t have a single idea whats going on.” Zack finished for him. “Or retrodegration.”

                “Well at least we know how to stop that…” Genesis remarked a bit bitterly, closing his book.

                “Hojo is what needs to be stopped.” Zack grumbled, there was collective nod of agreement.  “Can I go sit with the kid? Is he stable?”

                “For now he’s stable.” Sephiroth confirmed, “But I think you’d do better to go out and do some work. You’ll be less anxious if you’re working Lieutenant Fair.”

                “Thank you sir, you’re probably right… Spike, lets hit the training room.” Zack suggested.

                Cloud made a low noise of complaint, he was still covered in dirt from the fight with the fiends earlier, too concerned with Squall to have taken a break to shower first. Zack new though if he insisted Cloud would go train with him until they both passed out; he was a good soldier like that.

                “Ah… never mind. How about you go shower and I’ll go terrify some cadets?” He amended.

                The three generals chuckled, and shook their heads. Genesis stood up with his book, pushing away his hair, the tints of auburn brown still noticeable in his hair.

                “I am going to check on our guest. I will message you should anything arise.” He said with a low hum. “The medbay is a rather peaceful place to enjoy reading, so I won’t be as antsy as any of you would be.”

                “I’ll walk down with you.” Angeal grunted.

                Sephiroth took his seat again as everyone stood to part ways. Cloud lingered for a moment, looking back at Sephiroth, his eyebrows furrowed.

                “He’s a very influential member of SeeD… If he doesn’t come out of this…”

                “It’ll reflect poorly on our capabilities and SeeD might militarize on Hojo’s hunt.” Sephiroth concluded for him.

                The blond nodded, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned his weight on the frame of the lounge door. “They’ll put a hit on him is what they’ll do…” Cloud responded. “They’re not standard like us. The Gardens have a network with the other countries… even Avalanche and Turks have deals with them.”

                “Are you concerned that it’ll wound our reputation if they get Hojo first? Or are you worried you won’t be the one to cut him down?” Sephiroth asked, arching a brow.

                “I don’t care who stops him.” Cloud scoffed. “Everything I set out to do as far as Hojo goes is done. So long as he is caught soon…”

                “He can only hide for so long… especially if he wants to keep experimenting.” Sephiroth pointed out.

                Cloud hummed lightly, mako tinted eyes unfocused as he gave way to his own thoughts.

                “He’s going to do something big soon… He wants to rub it in our face that he’s smarter than us…”

x-x-x-x

                _“Leon!”_

                “…”

                _“Leon where are you!?”_

_Squall groaned, blinking groggily as he lifted himself off the ground. Leaves blurred his view of the yard, but he could see Matrons skirt as she paced the length of the yard, ringing her hands. He could see Irvine and Selphie on the other side of the yard, hands cupped as they called out for him. Seifer was sitting on the steps, eating a popsicle and watching them lazily. He knew where Squall was, the same place he always hid when he was upset. He was the only one who knew how to crawl under the thorns._

                _He scowled, he didn’t want to be found. He didn’t want to be bothered. Why though? He couldn’t recall. Was this even his life? His memory? He knew all these people, but it was like he was a puzzle piece just crammed into fit._

_“Little one…”_

                _Squall jumped as two hands grabbed hold beneath him pulling him up out of the bush. Thorn covered branches breaking apart on his arms like they were made of smoke, disbursed by his movement. He blinked up at the woman settling him onto her hip, holding around her shoulders instinctually though he knew he hadn’t been held like this in a long time. The woman was pale, with lips tinted with blue and purples, her skin was cold._

_“Shiva?” He questioned. She smiled at him and swept his bangs out of his face to give him a kiss against his forehead._

_“You remember me, that’s good at least.” She hummed. “You nearly died… it took a lot to keep your mind safe when I couldn’t protect your body.”_

_“From what?” He asked, confused._

_“You’ll know soon.” She promised. “For now, you are healing, so I’ll let you borrow this memory.”_

_She set him on the ground again, disappearing in a cloud of fog. Squall frowned, he hated not being answered when he had questions. He had a foggy grasp of what was going on, he’d been fighting and Shiva didn’t want to be summoned. Now he was back at the orphanage, but he didn’t remember Matron and all the other kids looking for him. He was pretty sure it was Seifer who always came looking for him. Was this a memory he gave Shiva when they junctioned?_

_“What the hell are you doing little lion?”_

_“Don’t call me that.” The words left his mouth before he fully registered the question. Seifer was crouching next to him, his face was round and childish. Squall furrowed his brow, he had to be eight or nine._

_“Tsk. Don’t ignore the question. They’ve been gone for an hour, how long you gonna hide?” He scoffed, grabbing his arm and dragging him away from the bushes._

_“Who?”_

_“The weird couple…” Seifer replied, frustration showing on his face. Squall felt a tickle in his mind. Right, adoptions. Whenever there was a candidate for adoptions Squall would hide. “They took Zell.”_

_“Zell?”_

_“I bet they bring him back tomorrow! Who wants a cry baby?” The blonde scoffed._

_“He won’t come back…” Squall muttered._  
                “What was that?”  
                “He’s a sweet kid… parents like sweet kids… And he won’t cry as much without you picking on him.”

_He barely recognized what was coming out of his mouth. The memory was playing out and he was just along for the ride, this memory hadn’t been his since he junctioned Shiva. Why had the Aeon chosen this memory? She had several of them to choose from, and he couldn’t place why she hadn’t just let him return to consciousness._

_“Are you scared?”_

_“Of what?” Seifer scoffed._

_“Being taken away from here?”_

_Seifer stared at him, sighing as he crossed his arms. “Are you?”_

_“… What if I disappear too?”_

_An ache formed in his chest. Squall knew he meant Ellone’s disappearance. He knew that he was afraid that if he left the orphanage he’d never see the other orphans again, maybe he’d just disappear. He could feel his younger selfs anxiety and fear. Seifer’s hand appeared in his line of sight, too quick for him to dodge the flick to the forehead._

_“You aren’t going anywhere… Especially if you keep hiding in the bushes.” Seifer snorted. “We’re going from the orphanage straight to the Garden, no family’s, no stupid adoption stuff… we promised remember?”_

_Squall paused, he realized._

No… I don’t…

 

                x-x-x-x

                “Where am I?”

                Genesis looked up from his book, startled by the sudden hoarse question. Squall was attempting to look around, but control over his body seemed to be gone, his head lulled to the side, hand twitching but not moving. The red head got up and crossed over to the brunettes bed, putting a hand against his fevered skin. He was still disoriented, but the fact he was conscious wasn’t just a good sign, it was short of a miracle.

                “You’re in the medical bay,” Genesis answered him, pushing back sweaty brown hair from his scared face. Storm blue eyes attempted to hold his.

                “Did I miss class?” He mumbled voice slurred.

                Genesis arched an eyebrow, he’d forgotten that Balamb was both a school and a military force. The disoriented youth was obviously suffering from some slight memory issues, because the red head knew that he was a Commander, there was no way he’d still be in school right?

                “No, you were excused… you need to rest.” Genesis fibbed, reaching down to hold his hand as it flopped to the side when Squall attempted to move it. “Try to go back to sleep okay? You need your strength…”

                Squall was quiet for a moment, his eyes struggling to focus on something behind him. “Read to me…”

                “Excuse me?”

                “Please… like you use to…” Squall was fading quick, and clearly didn’t know who he was talking too, but Genesis humored him, picking up Loveless and flipping to his favorite part. Perching carefully on the side of his bed, he recited it out loud. Squall made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a hum, before his breathing began to even out. Genesis leaned against the head board, getting comfortable as he continued to read to the brunette. He was a strange little addition to the unit they’d set up.

                For so long it’d been just him, Angeal and Sephiroth, then it was Zack bothering them for attention and training, followed soon after by Cloud. Or… at least it had been originally.

                After Hojo’s experiments had been blacklisted, it was assured that the three generals and their protégé’s would be leading the last generation of super soldiers. Yet, here was Squall, trained enough in military work that he couldn’t be classed as an injured or ill civilian. He was put into the high ranks in order to keep collateral damage accounted for.

                “Hey…”

                Genesis looked up; humming softly as Cloud carefully slipped into the room, closing the glass door behind him. “He woke up for a moment… He’s disoriented, asked me to read to him and fell back asleep.” He reported.

                “That’s good…” Cloud sighed with a tired glance over the brunette. “I was scared he wasn’t going to make it.”

                “He’ll need watched after closely for a while, probably some more mako infusions to make sure his levels balance out correctly…” Genesis replied with a calm turn of the page he was on.

                “Tsk… There are reports of bodies being found.” Cloud admitted softly. “Mako Poisoning killed them…”

                “Hojo won’t stop until he creates another Sephiroth… So far this boy is the closest he’s gotten without the medical backing of soldier.” Genesis commented. “He’s not going to give up…”

                “Chaos has to find a way to replace what we took from it… I’m just scared that’s going to involve a war between us and SeeD…” Cloud shook his head, taking a seat at the end of the brunettes bed.

                “Has Aerith said anything?”

                “No, and she hasn’t shown any sign that she’ll wake up. Unresponsive since Sephiroth and I came back from the lifestream.” He remarked.

                Silence settled in the room, Cloud pulled out his PHS in order to shoot Zack a message about Squalls condition. He’d finally been talked into going to take a nap after some hard training with Angeal. Leaving Squall’s baby sitting to Genesis. They both paused when Squall began shaking, eyes widening. The fit lasted barely long enough for Cloud to get up to grab the nurse call button, then Squalls eyes were open again and he was looking around.

                “Squall? Are you okay?” Cloud asked.

                “I’m… not sure.” He groaned. “My head hurts… I can’t move much…”

                “Do you know who we are?” Genesis asked, reaching over to grab a cool compress, using it to cool the youths feverish face. Squall made a grateful noise in the back of his throat, leaning into the cool touch. He didn’t answer the question, instead basking in the relief.

                “Squall…” Cloud tried.

                Blue eyes opened, and Cloud swallowed, they weren’t the same storm grey they had been the day before, now they had a light behind them, making them almost silver then a deeper blue all at once. The mako was really showing through now.

                “You’re not Zell…” Squall stated, brows furrowing. “You almost look like him… but you’re not…”

                “No, I’m not Zell.”

                “I’m not at the Garden…” Squall reasoned, looking around.

                “You’re okay, don’t push yourself.” Genesis insisted, pushing his bangs out of his eyes. “Try to go back to sleep, we’ll be quieter for you.”

                “Is Seifer here?” Squall asked, expression pinched as he fought his grogginess.

                “No…” Cloud shared a confused look with Genesis.

                “He’s always around when I’m hurt… he probably put me here…” He accused. “Asshole cheats…”

                Genesis smiled, amused by the rambling of the ill exSeeD. It reminded him of when he and Angeal were just starting out, if either of them ended up in the hospital, the immediate person blamed was Sephiroth.

                “I know that name…” Genesis commented.

                “He was the Knight that stood by that Witch that was giving the Galbadia and Esthar problems. She tried to destroy the Balamb section of SeeD in Centra….” Cloud explained.

                 The three countries where the mercenary groups came from and thrived. Genesis didn’t really pay much attention to outside politics unless it was extremely likely that SOLDIER was going to be pulled into the situation. Squall’s brows furrowed at Clouds remarks; obviously not fully comprehending what they were talking about.

                They chatted idly for a moment, until Cloud pointed out that they should alert a doctor to Squall’s being conscious. There was small rush of people, and a very disgruntledly Squall trying to fight off the doctors. They got him sitting up and Genesis escaped the duty of helping the other eat. Cloud gave him a begrudging look, but took over so the doctors would stop aggravating the newest addition to the 1st class ranks.

                Nothing was making sense to Squall, the lack of ability to move; the strange medical bay, and the strangers fussing over him.  Genesis wasn’t surprised, watching the energy drain out of him with each interaction. He was ready to nod off into sleep at any second; still completely disoriented from the Mako. He struggled to answer questions, and was becoming frustrated.

                “Alright, I believe its time for the boy to go back to sleep.” Genesis commented, snapping his fingers at one of the nurses. “You’re taxing him.”

                “We only have a few more-“

                “He is not an experiment, we do not handle SOLDIERS like we use to.” Cloud added in firmly.

                The medical staff quietly dispersed, somewhat begrudgingly. The doctor stayed for a moment longer, scribbling on his notepad.

                “The fact he’s woken up at all is good… that amount of Mako in his system should have lead him to a fast death…” He admitted. “Those ‘junctions’ saved his life. One froze the mako and the other started to burn it out.”

                “He has two Junctions?” Cloud asked.

                “Three…” The doctor corrected. “From my understanding, he can only summon one at a time, but currently has three of the Aeons or Guardian forces that are currently bonded with him. “

                Genesis was pretty sure it was common for SeeD’s to have multiple junctions, but he was still none the less impressed. The doctor seemed to feel it was impressive, or he wouldn’t have put so much stress on it. In any case, the creatures had saved the young mans life.

                “I’m going to call Zack… let him know he woke up…” Cloud decided after a moment.

                “Cloud…” Genesis stopped him. “Be a dear and see if you can’t figure out what our dear Cetra knows?”

                The blond frowned, blue eyes hinting at irritation. Maybe age was getting to him, because he didn’t offer any sharp tongued retort like Genesis was use too. He just walked out to call the puppy.


	4. SeeD and SOLDIER

                “Slow down!” Zell groaned, chasing Seifer’s long strides up the stairs.

                “Three units haven’t reported back, two bodies were found that belonged to missing SeeD’s from Esthar.” Seifer growled. “Catch up, or leave me the hell alone.”

                “What are we going to do? Take over security for every garden?” Zell huffed, having to half jog to keep up with the older man.

                “If I have too!” Seifer snapped.

                He was pissed. Renegade students, more SeeD’s coming up dead with that Mako shit saturating their remains. He’d gone over what little information about SOLDIER provided them with on Hojo and from what he gathered, he was targeting SeeD’s because a majority of them were physically fit enough to take on the physical strain that Mako created on the body. It was a big part of what made them so strong. He didn’t have the finer details of the science behind it, and he doubted he’d understand it anyway, but his school, his students, were in danger.

                He threw open the door to the Cid’s conference room, startling the officials inside. He lifted up the papers in his hand before tossing them onto the table.

                “We are being played for chumps! Two Military forces! Two!” Seifer started with a growl. “Are being dodged and evaded while this guy is picking us off.”

                Zell came in behind him, looking a little sheepish as he closed the door behind himself.

                “We are trying-“

                “To play nice with SOLDIER. I know.” He interrupted. “But its time to say fuck politics and do this how we were trained to.”

                “Seifer, theres so much red tape-“

                “He is taking people from other countries! Two kids from Esthar, being found two continents over?” He scoffed at them. “We can talk about red tape after he’s in a grave.”

                “What do you say we do?” One of the officials asked with a heavy sigh.

                “Lure him out… He’s taking teams. So I say we put a couple fake units out… Fake missions for what we’ll be calling new SeeD’s recruits.” Seifer said.

                “SOLDIER has made it very clear that he’s a dangerous guy and he’s trying to recreate an army that was taken from him. He’s to dangerous to keep acting like we’ll start a fight between countrys.” Zell agreed. “I’m willing to go with Seifers plan…”

                The group looked around, tense silence filling the room. Cid sighed and moved to stand, having to take hold of the table to raise himself.

                “All in favor of Seifers plan?” He asked, raising his hand.

                Seifer and Zell both raised theirs, watching the slow collection of hands joining them. Seifer leaned on the table, breathing a sigh of relief. He really didn’t want to get into trouble for not following orders again, but he had to do something more active.

                “Okay… I have three teams planned out already. Fuujin and Zell are willing to lead teams. We’ll fabricate their stations and pull in some of the newly stationed SeeDs from the last exam.” He explained. “We’ll contact the other gardens and get them to do the same, we’ll put a bounty out on this guy if we have to. We’ll draw him out…”

                “I have a team in mind.” Zell offered. “I can go out as soon as my fake ID is ready.”

                “Seifer… I want you on one of the teams.” Cid stated.

                The blond froze, staring at Cid.

                “Me….” He repeated. “I’m not a SeeD.”

                “No… but you’ve lived and breathed for this academy since this has happened. I believe that you should be one of the people that helps take this guy down.” Cid countered. “Zell, take Seifer to the administrations office. Tell them you need access to records and get this set up.”

                “Yes sir.” Zell grinned. “Come on jack ass, lets get this going!”

                Seifer nodded, the chance made him nervous. He couldn’t mess up again. There was little he could do to mess up like he had before, but there was now an unspoken level of behavior that was expected of him. Most of Balamb still viewed him as a criminal, and it’d be to easy to play into that belief.

                “It took two months.” Zell scoffed. “Two months for you to finally tell them to arm up. I thought you’d be faster to make a move Almasy.”  
                “Shut up chickenwuss… I was only brought in for security.” Seifer sneered. “I wasn’t going to push my luck until shit got too bad.”

                “Just saying… figured you’d be ready to fight right off the bat…” Zell shrugged.

                “Why didn’t you vouch up, huh? If you were so ready for me to argue to fight?” He asked.

                “I did, they shot me down. Said I was to worked up after what happened to Squall.” He admitted, scratching at the back of his head sheepishly. “Guess I was. I just wanted to hunt him down and put a boot up his ass.”

                Seifer snorted, rolling his eyes. “You’re to short to reach his ass.”

                “Hey screw you!” Zell growled.

                Seifer smirked at him and followed the younger blond into the elevator.

x-x-x-x-x

                “Can you pleases stop fussing over me!?” Squall snapped, waving Cloud and Zack both off of him as he took steps alongside the rail guards. The mako had messed up his system in a big way, he’d suffered memory loss for three days, and when he’d tried to get out of bed on the fourth day, his legs collapsed beneath him. He couldn’t walk. Now he was able to take small steps, but he wasn’t very good with balance.

                Zack and Cloud had wanted him to stay in bed for another few days, but Squall wasn’t one to stay sitting for long, especially not in a medical unit. In order to be allowed out though, the doctor said he had to be able to walk out on his own. Physical therapy was a pain in the ass with two worried mother hen SOLDIERS stalking his every move.

                “Don’t you have a job to do or something?” He asked, scowling at the pouting pair.

                “You forget kid, you’re my project.” Zack said with a grin. “You gotta be in tip top shape so we can be cleared for missions!”

                “And I’m waiting to hear back from Avalanche and my normal source of entertainment is currently babysitting you.” Cloud countered with a smirk, eyeing the way Squall’s legs seemed to buckle with each step.

The Mako was reworking its way through his system, and apparently, SOLDIERS were usually put into a coma for their injections, and some even kept in tubes while their bodies adjusted. Squall didn’t have that luxury this time around. Shiva had frozen most of the mako inside him when he was still captured by Hojo, so his body felt like it had basically been hit by a Diablo sized train.

                “Need the chair?” Zack asked, eyeing the way Squall stood, knuckles white as he held onto the bar. He glared for a moment before nodding. He felt like his legs were going to give if he tried taking another step. Zack grabbed the handle to the wheel chair they had to the side as Cloud helped Squall get off the PT platform and into it.

                “So are you going to update me on whats going?” He asked, settling into his seat.

                “Not much to update…” Cloud shrugged. “No sign of Hojo, though we think we’ve found more failed experiments from him…”

                “Where?”

                “Dubbel? Dublin?”

                “Dollet…” The brunette scoffed at the others attempt to remember the one of the cities from Squalls country.

                “That one!” He said with a grin. “SeeD is being kind of fickle with details, but apparently they were grabbed from Esthar.”

                “SeeDs from Esthar, found in Dollet?” He frowned. That was a serious jump on the map. “Esthar is a nine hour boat ride from Dollet…”

                “How is it that this guy created an entire army of SOLDIERS but now he’s barely getting rejects like me?” Squall asked.

                Cloud made a face, and Zack looked away awkwardly.

                “…. What aren’t you telling me?” Squall asked.

                “Most people here are exposed to Mako their whole lives… and the doctors where trained to help them through the side effects.” Cloud explained carefully. “The army is big, but there was actually only a handful of SOLDIERS in comparison to the rest of the army… Most don’t actually survive the second set of SOLDIER injection rounds. Its one of the reasons we decided to take Hojo’s projects down…”

                “We didn’t really expect him to go AWOL.” Zack sighed.

                “Speak for yourself…” Cloud scoffed.

                “Yeah, yeah. You told us he was going to freak.” Zack stuck his tongue out at him.

                “So what has been done about this?” Squall asked. “Are there any leads?”

                “No, but we’re looking into it, SeeD is really pissed off. The three Gardens we’ve spoken to have stated that they’re putting a bounty out…. Soon every organization is going to be gunning for Hojo so he’ll probably hole up…” Cloud sighed, rubbing his face. “Even the Turks are bolstering the bounty.”

                “Death counts getting to high, especially as far as SeeD is concerned.” He remarked, frowning. It was frustrating not knowing what was going in his own school. SOLDIER or not, it’d always be his school and he had every intention of returning some day.

                “What do you say we roll Squall up to our floor, get him out of this stale medical air.” Zack suggested.

                “That’d be amazing.” Squall admitted. “If I have to sit through one more hour of gossiping nurses, I’m going to kill someone.”

                “Oh, gossip, anything juicy?” Zack waggled his eyebrows.

                “You are horrible.” Cloud snorted, grabbing hold of Squalls chair to direct him out of the room.

                “Well there are quiet a few suggesting that you two are sleeping together.” Squall replied blandly. Zack snorted.

                “Yeah heard that one a thousand times…” He said rolling his eyes. “Gossip is all stupid and outrageous.”

                “That’s the best part. First Class Soldiers get all sorts of crazy stories told about them. Like that Sephiroth sleeps with the cadet that is sent to get his coffee.” Zack chuckled.

                “God, the coffee boy jokes were horrible.” Cloud groaned. “I was still a cadet when that happened. ‘Keep being a punk and we’ll send you with the General’s Coffee Cadet Strife.’”

                “Oh, remember when everyone thought I was sneaking out to have torrid affairs?” Zack snickered.

                “That one was mostly true,” Cloud argued. “You went on a date with Aerith every Friday unless you were on a mission.”

                “But they weren’t torrid.” Zack defended.

                “My favorite rumor is that you guys are the ones who tried turning me into a SOLDIER.” Squall remarked.

                “Oh now Spike… They figured us out.” Zack said with a over dramatic gasp.

                “Guess we got to hire a whole new medical staff after these guys mysteriously disappear.” Cloud said with a flourish. Squall was guessing he was doing an impression of Genesis.

                “You guys are awful.” Squall decided with a sigh.

                “You love us.” Zack chirped, wheeling him into the elevator.

                They made it up to the SOLDIERS floors and Cloud headed immediately for Angeals office. The man looked up at them with a frown, on his computer, Squall could see Cid Kramers face.

                “Uh… knock knock?” Zack said weakly.

                “Headmaster Kramer.” Squall said, grabbing the wheels and pushing forward so he could see the screen properly.

                “Squall! What happened to you my boy?” The man asked leaning forward in his seat as though it’d give him a better vantage “Are you injured?”

                “No, sir. Just some medical protocol with my mako testing.” He said easily, bending the truth. “Whats going on?”

                “First Leonhart…” Angeal warned.

                “Its okay General, Squall has more authorization to hear this than you do frankly.” Cid replied, steepling his fingers on his desk, taking them just barely into view of the camera. “Status Commander?”

                “Currently; Due to medical evaluation of my condition I am on hold from any field work, but doing well.” He confirmed. “… Missing the Garden.”

                “We miss you, but Zell and Seifer have made a pretty good team of getting security up to grade. We’ve even reinstalled the cameras and set up a dummy system.”

                “That’s good…” Squall sighed. “What are you conferring with General Angeal about?”

                “Hojo is proving to be a bigger danger than previously thought, we’re taking extra measures to catch him. The tactics we are keeping to ourselves, but I wanted to assert that from here out…”

                “You’re handling it outside of the established alliance.” Squall finished for him.

                “Is SeeD a hive mind? Cause he knew something was up from the minute he woke up…” Zack grumbled.

                “Garden of Wasps.” Cid replied with a small smirk.

                Squall cracked a smile. “Anything I can do to assist sir?”

                “Keep up with what you are doing, we’ll contact you if we need you commander.” He said with a sigh. “I wish I could give you more information, but as it stands, you’re not in company of qualified operatives.”

                The indignant sound Zack made was worthy of mockery, but Squall ignored it. He nodded and pulled out his SOLDIER issue PHS.

                “I’m sending you my personal contact. You can give it to those who need it.” He replied. “Is that okay General Hewley.”

                “Would it stop you if I said no?” Angel scoffed.

                “Probably not…” Squall admitted.

                “Squall…” Cid said, drawing his eyes back to the screen. “Please… give me a detailed account of your status… Not as your superior, but as your friend.”

                Squall was silent for a moment. He knew what he really meant. Cid had been the closest thing he had to a father when he was a kid. He was worried, and he couldn’t begrudge him that.

                “I will.” He promised.

                “Thank you… Now, General Hewley, please know that SeeD still wishes to up hold our continued partnership, but we will be using our own methods from here out. If we find something, we will alert you as quickly as possible dependent on the situation.”

                “I will bring this to discussion with my higher ups and we will get back to you on what this means going forward.” He agreed sourly. What ever they’d discussed, Squall could tell it was no longer a friendly treaty between the two military forces.

                The screen went dark and Squall frowned.

                “Qualified…” Zack grumbled. “I’m a 1st too.”

                “I think he meant SeeD Qualified Zack.” Cloud said, patting his friends shoulder. “Squalls the one with feet in each pool here, he’s still considered a Commander there.”

                “Its just protocol Zack, you can’t tell me lots of stuff.” Squall pointed out.

                “Aren’t you supposed to be in the medical wing?” Angeal asked, breaking the tension.

                “Jail break! He needed some air.” Zack chirped. “We brought him up to hang out, maybe grab some food?”

                “Can you send him out on a mission? I think he’s going insane being my babysitter more so than I am being a patient.” Squall asked, making all three men laugh.

                “Lets get some food in you boys, that way you can return your contraband guest to where he belongs.” Angeal suggested with a chuckle.

                “Please.” Cloud replied, once again taking over control of the chair.

                The four of them made there way one more floor up to the 1st’s mess hall. Squall was relieved to finally have something filling to eat instead of the bland food they had in the medical wing. The conversation was pretty mundane, mostly about what Avalanche was doing. Squall had gathered that the Avalanche team were an insurgent group who had a big hand in fighting the misuse of Mako energy; once Shinra had become more complacent towards the military. They were another force trying to capture Hojo, working alongside the more private sector of Shinra’s military, the Turks. Cloud was apparently fielding all both alongside his work as SOLDIER.

                “Any luck finding the kid?”

                “What kid?” Squall asked as Cloud frowned at his food, stabbing a potato with a long sigh.

                “Denzel…” Cloud started slowly. “He’s… god. He’s a kid I got attached too when I was still a third. I was trying to protect him, but then Hojo’s loyalists dropped one of the plates and he was there. I know he’s alive, but I can’t find him… its been two years…”

                “What have you done to find him?” Squall asked, furrowing his brows.

                “Everything…” Cloud sighed. “Put out posters, searched all of the lower plates…”

                “Did Hojo know you were close?” Squall asked carefully.

                “He didn’t even know he existed.” Cloud assured him. “I just can’t find him… I think he’s hiding. He’s mad at Shinra and SOLDIER.”

                “We’ve had suggestions that he’s hanging out with some orphans that run a little scrap collecting deal, but they’re not forking over any information.” Zack added in.

                “Well of course not.” Squall scoffed. “Orphans protect each other even if it doesn’t make sense…”

                “What?”

                “I’m an orphan.” Squall continued. “When the orphanage was still up and running, Edea let kids come and go, because they didn’t want to be adopted, they hid and ran away if she tried to force them to stay. So… there was a silent truce… You see it with all homeless kids. Its to protect them.”

                “Great… how do we get them to tell us where Denzel is?” Zack asked.

                “You don’t… you ask to get a message to him.” Squall countered.

                Cloud bit his lip, drumming his fingers on the counter top.

                “Look… I can’t go on missions, but if you clear me to go into the city- wheel chair and all… I’ll help you out.” Squall offered.

                “Last time we cleared you for something you nearly died.” Zack pointed out.

                Squall flipped him off as he took a drink. “This is different. You want intel from a bunch of orphans? You have to speak their language.”

                “Tell us what to do.” Zack countered.

                “Nope, gotta be there to assess what’s going on.” Squall argued. “It’s a trade system.”

                “Well, lets wait until you can walk and we’ll discuss it then.” Cloud said.

                “You want to find this kid?” Squall asked.

                “Yeah…”

                “Then I’m gonna make a list of things that will benefit the orphans. Take it out of my account, or find a donation but trust me… we need the bargaining chip.” Squall said, reaching over to swipe a pen from a neighboring table.

x-x-x-x-x

                “Zell…”

                “Hey Fuujin.” Zell greeted with an awkward smile.

                The white-haired woman set her bag down on the table quietly, not that the younger SeeD was expecting much else. She tossed her new false ID onto the table in front of him, a silent proclamation that she was on his team. They were two weeks into the false mission send outs, and so far nothing, so they were hitting big this time. Zell, Fuujin and two green horns were heading out on a three week mission to the middle of a hostile area.

                “When?” She asked.

                “Only an hour, they’re getting ready now.” He explained. “We’re all going to be wearing trackers in out shoes and in our coms. So hopefully if we’re attacked, we’ll have back up pretty quick.”

                “Understood.” She said tapping the file with an aggravated look. She already knew.

                “Yeah…” He rolled his eyes. “You say hi to Seifer?”

                “Boss, yes.” She asserted. “Worry wart…”

                “Look how many people they’ve got… he’s got reason.” He scoffed.

                “Annoying.” She asserted again. “Very.”

                Zell chuckled, finishing up his pack and setting it on the table. Fuujin had always been a difficult person to talk to, due to her stunted speech. The woman was smart, quick as a whip, but her verbal skills were lack luster.

                “Lets go prep the transport.” He suggested.

                “Affirmative.” She said gathering her own bag and badge. “Yuan.”

                “What?”

                “Name… Yuan.” She said tapping the badge. “You?”

                “Heh… Lexi. Seifer picked it.” Zell said with a scoff. Fuujin smirked.

                The bully within Seifer lived on it seemed.

                “Dependable?” Fuujin questioned. “Delik, Fergus?”

                “They’re excited for their first mission, but Fergus is a little gun shy, so we’ve got to keep them in line if anything happens.” He stated calmly. “They’re good cadets, they didn’t want someone who couldn’t keep up with us.”

                “Good.” She hummed.

                “The false mission stands. We’re in there for some fiend clean up and control over the radicals that have been based there.” Zell stated, picking up the file. “We’ll be hyper aware, but no discussion primary to our actual purpose.”

                “Fishing.”

                “Yup, we’re going fishing.” He agreed.

                They were met by the two new SeeD’s and Seifer on the transport pad. Zell checked their gear while Fuujin went over the protocol’s of an emergent situation with the two for what was probably the fifth hundred time.

                “Hey _Lexi_.” He jeered as Zell joined them.

                “Fuck you.” Zell scoffed. “You can call me what ever you want, but you’ll be looking silly when Lexi Chen brings home the war criminal.”

                “Tsk, yeah good luck with that.” He replied, his face relaxed taking on a more serious nature. “Seriously Dincht… anything suspicious, any hint of trouble, use that thick skull of yours.”

                “I will… we’re ready.” Zell assured him. “Fuujin and I are going to be fine. We’ll protect the kids and bring them home.”

                “I know…” Seifer conceded. “I’ll be out with my team next week. So keep it together until then.”

                “Right, and we’ll have updates on the other teams nightly, through code.” He confirmed.

                “Yeah… good luck runt.” Seifer clapped him on the shoulder.

                Zell let out a long breath. Dealing with Seifer on an equal playing field was strange. His child hood bully had changed a lot after the war, though the teasing remained, there was a level of respect between them that hadn’t been there before. The whole mission felt like a death march. Every single team that had been sent out, felt like a death march for the SeeDs they sent out.

                “Hey… Seifer… don’t die out there, okay?” He called out.

                He was rewarded with a middle finger flipped over the mans shoulder.

                “Commander, we’re ready.” Fergus announced, shouldering her pack.

                “Alright, load up. We’re early, but no use waiting when we’re geared up!” Zell clapped his hands together, directing them towards the transport vehicle.


End file.
